CHICAGO—February 13, 2018 – WGN-TV announces the hiring of veteran news anchor Joe Donlon to start in mid-April. Donlon will join the evening/late news team of Micah Materre, Ben Bradley and Lourdes Duarte. He comes to WGN-TV from KGW-TV, Portland, Oregon with 21 years of experience as their main anchor.

“Joe is the perfect person for the position. He is a heavy hitter when it comes to news,” commented Jennifer Lyons, WGN-TV news director. “He is an incredible writer and I look forward to his stories as a working journalist in our news room. His knowledge, personality and quick wit will be an asset to WGN’s unique vision for storytelling in the Chicago news market.”

“The broadcast history in Chicago is unparalleled. I can’t tell you what it means to get this call from an iconic station I grew up watching, in one of the greatest cities in the world,” commented Joe Donlon. “I feel like I’ve been traded to the Bulls in the 1990s. It is literally a dream job for me.”

Prior to WGN-TV, Donlon was the main anchor for KGW in Portland. He spent nine years as an anchor and reporter at KVOA-TV (NBC) in Tucson, Arizona and began his career in Corpus Christi, Texas at KZTV-TV (CBS).

Donlon’s newscasts have been honored with numerous Emmy and AP awards. Career highlights include reporting from Kuwait following the Gulf War in 1991, covering several national political stories over the past several decades, and anchoring coverage of a number of major sporting events, including the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, and the Oregon Ducks football team in both the 2010 Rose Bowl and 2011 National Championship game in Phoenix, AZ. Donlon hails from the Midwest, from St. Louis, Missouri. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism from Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, where he also played left wing for the Marquette hockey team.

WGN-TV is Chicago’s Very Own source for news, sports and entertainment. WGN News programs more local news than any other Chicago TV station and can be seen on WGN-TV, CLTV, WGNTV.com and the WGN-TV News and Weather apps. WGN 9.2 is Chicago’s home of Tribune Broadcasting’s classic TV network Antenna TV and WGN 9.3 is Chicago’s This TV movie network affiliate. WGN 9.4 carries TBD, bringing the world of internet video to your TV screen. WGN-TV is a Tribune Broadcasting station. For more information on Chicago’s Very Own WGN-TV, go to WGNTV.com